Praying the Bible

By Donald S. Whitney

"This little book is explosive and powerful."
R. Albert Mohler, Jr.
When you pray, does it ever feel like you're just saying the same old things about the same old things?
Offering us the encouragement and the practical advice we're all looking for, Donald S. Whitney, best-selling author of Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, outlines an easy-to-grasp method that has the power to transform our prayer life: praying the words of Scripture. Simple, yet profound, Praying the Bible will prove invaluable as you seek to commune with your heavenly Father in prayer each and every day.
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• Language: English
• Publisher: Crossway Books
• Release date: Jun 15, 2015
• ISBN: 9781433547874

Donald S. Whitney

Donald S. Whitney (PhD, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa) is professor of biblical spirituality and John H. Powell endowed chair of pastoral ministry at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri. He has written several books, including Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. Don blogs regularly at BiblicalSpirituality.org.

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Don Whitney’s suggestion to pray the Bible has made a huge contribution to my devotional life. This little book is explosive and powerful. Read it ready to experience a great step forward in your walk with Christ and in your commitment to prayer.

R. Albert Mohler Jr., President and Joseph Emerson Brown Professor of Christian Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

My walk with the Lord has often been strengthened and encouraged by Don Whitney’s writing. Now he reminds us of the value of using Scripture as a prompt and basis for our prayers. This is a particularly helpful tool for those of us who often struggle to know what and how to pray or whose minds tend to wander during private prayer. This book will surely help many refresh their time with the Lord.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, author; radio host, Revive Our Hearts

If you are looking for a book to teach you not only to pray but also to invigorate your intimacy with God through prayer, this is the one. I highly recommend this book written by a man who has instructed thousands of people about spiritual disciplines in academic circles and in church settings. My soul has been nourished as I have sat under Whitney’s teaching, especially on the topic of prayer. You and I need this book. You will be blessed in more than one way.

Miguel Núñez, Senior Pastor, International Baptist Church of Santo Domingo; President, Wisdom and Integrity

"I prayed through Psalm 23 with tears streaming down my face, asking myself, why have I not done this before? Perhaps you’ve been told to pray the Scriptures, but you haven’t because you were never taught how to. Whitney’s simple approach makes praying through the Bible accessible while also leaving space for the Word and Spirit to work in your heart. Don’t give up on prayer! Praying the Bible will help transform your prayer life."

Trillia Newbell, author, United: Captured by God’s Vision for Diversity and Fear and Faith

"Prayer and Scripture intake are both essential for spiritual devotion, like the left and right wings of a plane. Prayer is the Christian’s duty. It should also be the Christian’s delight. Praying the Bible will teach you to take in the joy of Scripture-led prayer."

H. B. Charles Jr., Pastor, Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church, Jacksonville, Florida

Whitney offers a wonderfully practical, pastoral, and biblical approach to prayer that relieves personal boredom and unleashes spiritual power. It’s so simple it will shock you and, at the same time, invigorate a renewed prayer life with your God.

Bryan Chapell, President Emeritus, Covenant Theological Seminary; Senior Pastor, Grace Presbyterian Church, Peoria, Illinois

Whitney has taught the material in this book a number of times at the WorshipGod conferences I lead. Unfailingly his has been one of the most appreciated and life-affecting seminars we’ve offered. I can’t recommend this book highly enough. 

Bob Kauflin, Director of Worship, Sovereign Grace Ministries; author, Worship Matters and True Worshipers

PRAYING

THE

BIBLE

DONALD S. WHITNEY

Praying the Bible

Copyright © 2015 by Donald S. Whitney

Published by Crossway

1300 Crescent Street

Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law.

Cover design: Tim Green, Faceout Studio

Cover image: Shutterstock, iStock.com, Getty Images

First printing 2015

Printed in the United States of America

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4335-4784-3

ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-4787-4

PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-4785-0

Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-4786-7

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Whitney, Donald S., (Professor)

Praying the Bible / Donald S. Whitney.

1 online resource.

  Includes bibliographical references and index.

  Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

  ISBN 978-1-4335-4785-0 (pdf) – ISBN 978-1-4335-4786-7 (mobi) – ISBN 978-1-4335-4787-4 (epub) – ISBN 978-1-4335-4784-3 (hc)

  1. Prayer—Christianity.  2. Bible—Devotional use. I. Title.

BV215

248.3'2—dc23             2015005486

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Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

For T. W. Hunt, the most prayerful man I’ve ever known. Thank you for decades of daily prayer for me.

And also for R. F. Gates, whom God used in ways neither of us could have ever imagined in that moment on March 1, 1985, when you held up the Bible and said, When you pray, use the prayer book!

And most of all, for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

All this, indeed all of life, is for you and about you. After talking with you so many thousands of times, I can’t wait to see you.

Contents

Cover

Newsletter Sign Up

Endorsements

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

  1  The Problem

  2  The Solution

  3  The Method

  4  More about the Method

  5  Praying the Psalms

  6  Praying Other Parts of the Bible

  7  The Most Important Part of This Book

  8  Evaluating the Experience

  9  What Have We Learned?

10  The Examples of George Mueller, Jesus on the Cross, and Christians in the Book of Acts

Appendix 1:  Psalms of the Day Chart

Appendix 2:  Praying the Bible with a Group

Notes

General Index

Scripture Index

Back Cover

1

The Problem

If I try to pray for people or events without having the word in front of me guiding my prayers, then several negative things happen. One is that I tend to be very repetitive. . . . I just pray the same things all the time. Another negative thing is that my mind tends to wander.

John Piper

Since prayer is talking with God, why don’t people pray more? Why don’t the people of God enjoy prayer more? I maintain that people—truly born-again, genuinely Christian people—often do not pray simply because they do not feel like it. And the reason they don’t feel like praying is that when they do pray, they tend to say the same old things about the same old things.

When you’ve said the same old things about the same old things about a thousand times, how do you feel about saying them again? Did you dare just think the B word? Yes, bored. We can be talking to the most fascinating

Reviews for Praying the Bible

[galoma_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is an excellent book to energize your prayer life. The author contends that we don't pray as much as we should because "we tend to say the same old things about the same old things." His solution is to pray through the Bible - especially the Psalms. He explains well and simply how to pray in this way. The book is a quick read, but life changing. I am going to try to pray this way from now on.

[robsumrall · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

For many Christians, prayer can be a tedious, boring task. After mumbling through barely-cohesive short prayers, we suffer under loads of guilt for not praying well. Dr. Whitney makes a convincing case that the problem is not you, but your method. Praying The Bible is a breath of fresh air for Believers who have struggled to have a consistent, vibrant prayer life. Whitney lays out a simple methodology that drives people to pray through the Psalms verse by verse. I have heard Dr. Whitney give a seminar on this before. The information was revolutionary to me back then. This book is essentially a print version of his seminar. Still, if you have been to one of his seminars, you should pick up the book for a quick refresher. If you haven't had the privilege of being at one of his "Praying Through Scripture" seminars, get this book today! It will change your life.

[Tameka · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed reading this book. It gave a great perspective on praying that I never considered and will incorporate in my pray life.

[abigail · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It was awesome! I highly recommend it! Donald Whitney is an expert! : )

[Marius Schnettler · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great way of looking at prayer! Would definitely recommend for any Christian

[Kimberly Fancher · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great read, have put the material read to good use.

[rsoelistyo17 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It s so practical and easy to put into practice immediately. I tried it out and it has transformed my prayer life! This book is everything its title promises to be.

[Paul Agabin · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It was short but very helpful. Would share this to our group. Many brothers and sisters need this. The method is simple and beautiful and can be done by anyone. I thank God for this book.

[William Dicks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is very easy to read and follow. It is very practical, and the concept of praying the Bible is clearly laid out. The concept of prayer that Don Whitney proposes here is simple and easy to follow. This is an excellent guide for new Christians, and for those who have been Christians for years.

[Jamie L Racine · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing little book! So helpful! I’ve always struggled with prayer and this book gave lots of practical advice.

[David Simon · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A very useful resource that will no doubt improve the prayer life of any believer. It is surprisingly simple, needing only the commitment of the reader to apply Whitney's method.

[judyg54 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a book that offered encouragement and help in making one's prayer life more meaningful. I LOVE praying scripture, and this author did a great job of helping folks see how to do this and the benefits of doing it. Very practical. I highly recommend this book; it won't take you long to read it and hopefully it will bring a whole new meaning to your prayer time.

[Andrew McNeill · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

For someone looking for a stimulus to pray, this book is very helpful. Its short size means that it won't take long to read - but it will make a big impact. I dare say you won't pray the same after reading this.

[leann-362203 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is a very effective method for prayer. I highly recommend it!

[wilsonknut · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Praying the Bible by Donald S. Whitney is a short book with a relatively simple premise, but it is one of the most powerful and helpful books I’ve read about prayer. Whitney starts with some questions, “Since prayer is talking with God, why don’t people pray more? Why don’t the people of God enjoy prayer more?” He goes on to say that he thinks Christians don’t pray more because they don’t feel like it. Why don’t they feel like it? “They tend to say the same old things about the same old things… When you’ve said the same old things about the same old things about a thousand times, how do you feel about saying them again?” As a result, we get bored. Our mind wanders, and we think there must be something wrong with us. Or we think that we’re just not good at praying, or maybe we’re not spiritual enough. Whitney says it’s not you; it is your method.Whitney writes, “The Holy Spirit causes all the children of God to believe that God is their Father and fills them with an undying desire to talk to Him.” However, many of us simply don’t have good experiences with prayer. We have a mental script that we run through repeatedly, or we have bits and pieces of prayers we’ve memorized through the years that we mindlessly repeat. Whitney writes, “Prayers without variety eventually become words without meaning. Jesus said that to pray this way is to pray in vain” (Matt. 6:7). So, what are we do?Whitney makes a careful distinction. He writes, “The problem is not that we pray about the same old things. To routinely pray about the same people and situations is perfectly normal. It’s normal to pray about the same old things because our lives tend to consist of the same old things.” We’re back to the method. Whitney says the solution must be simple, because the Spirit enables every believer to pray- young, old, educated, uneducated, rich, poor, mature, or new to the faith. The solution is to pray through a passage of scripture. He emphasizes the psalms, but explains how to pray through other scripture as well.This seems like common sense, but unfortunately common sense is not common practice. Whitney gives many examples and suggestions. His first is using Psalm 23. He writes, “You read the first verse, ‘The Lord is my shepherd,’ and you pray something like this:Lord, I thank you that you are my shepherd. You’re a good shepherd. You have shepherded me all my life… please shepherd my family today: guard them from the ways of the world…”And so on through the entire Psalm one verse at time. If the verse doesn’t bring something to mind to pray, go to the next verse. If you only have a few minutes, just stop when you run out of time. It’s amazingly simple, but extremely powerful. It really transforms your prayer time, and you don’t mindlessly repeat the same old things.Whitney’s writing is very conversational and easy to read. You could get through this book in one sitting if you wanted to. The book is sprinkled with great quotes from John Piper and others who practice praying through scripture. Whitney gives plenty of examples and even a guide for how to work through the Psalms in prayer. I highly recommend Praying the Bible to anyone who wants to revitalize his or her prayer life. Praying the Bible will be available July 31, 2015 from Crossway.